23 Comments...

This was a well done episode. The concept of tracking down Rory via the yellowed pages of a book by River Song was briiant.

For once River’s sauciness was kept in check and she was all the more refreshing for it.

Cons: That the Statue of Liberty would manifest in the same location and pose as she did in the pre-title sequence strained credibility.

Will Rory’s dad make a return appearance so that we get the emotional payoff to such a dramatic departure of his son?

I felt the raggedy man farewell was well-scripted but lacked the poignant gravitas from Amy that we saw in “The Girl Who Waited”.

Steve

Posted by steve on 09/30 at 03:17 AM

Excellent finale - not overplayed, with some elements that seem to make more sense once you think about them (usually the opposite happens). It’s a shame we’ll probably not see Brian Williams again (or will we - after all, the Doctor was still able to share an adventure with Wilf after saying goodbye forever to Donna). BBC Books is actually releasing Melody’s novel next week - but they’ve spoiled it by releasing it only as an e-book. How does one tear the last page out of an e-book?

Posted by Alex on 09/30 at 08:57 AM

more or less burst into tears for the end could not have been better

Posted by Vithu on 09/30 at 12:50 PM

So….are we supposed to be happy that Rory and Amy have to live 50 years in a seedy hotel room? What a terrible ending for two terrific characters!!!

Posted by Cate on 09/30 at 05:47 PM

Yep, cried continuously for about the last 10 minutes.
The episode overall had a few things that bothered me or felt unnecessary, but the overall idea of using the brilliant Weeping Angels, River being there, and the heartrending ending made up for it all.

As Steve mentioned above, I also can’t help hoping Rory’s dad Brian is given some kind of closure, especially after his conversation with the Doctor last week.

And Cate, I don’t think Amy and Rory had to live out their lives in that hotel room. What I understood from the dialogue on the roof and Amy’s afterword in the book, is that when they jumped off the building they created a paradox that destroyed that outcome. Instead, being sent into the past by an Angel now was no different than it used to be(like what happened to the Doctor, Martha, Kathy and Billy in ‘Blink’). They simply lived out their lives in a different time, but where not held captive somewhere.

Posted by Julie on 09/30 at 06:18 PM

After the raw emotion of the episode, I’m rather disappointed. It was Blink meets Amy’s Choice, and less compelling than either.

Amy’s departure at the end was less compelling because we knew what she’d choose. The angels sending people back in time was less compelling because they already did that for a whole episode. It was just very uninspired writing. Matt and Karen though, were at their best.

I would’ve much rather seen the Ponds give themselves up for River. Imagine that last angel grabbing an unsuspecting River by the wrist again - and then pointing at Rory and Amy…and the parents sacrificing themselves for their daughter. Now that would be compelling.

Posted by J Law on 09/30 at 09:34 PM

Thanks Julie, I feel much better about the episode. Your explanation made a lot of sense!

Posted by Cate on 09/30 at 09:55 PM

btw, isn’t the Statue of Liberty made of metal?

She’s not a proper marble/rock statue. Neither is she in the image of an angel.

Tsk Tsk Mr. Moffat: you were SO much better when you were just writing a few stories for Doctor Who. Your episodes were THE ones to look out for.

Now that you’re the showrunner: not so much.

Posted by steve on 10/01 at 10:42 PM

It was a very good episode and finale however it made no sense because they could have jsut waited for rory as he has already lived for thousands of years im sure another 50 couldnt hurt also the doctor couldnt land his tardis in manhatten but everywhere else ws fine so what was to stop the doctor asking amy to meet him in london a wekk or two after they weet back and also river song has some kind of braclet whihc teleported her with no problem why could th doctor not make another one of them or find where river got the braceltet from ????

Posted by Coner on 10/02 at 03:37 PM

Regarding the problems with writing the blog, I understand your issues. The problem is that the whole point of the blogs is somewhat lost if they aren’t published concurrently with the episodes. If they are published later some of us will not remember enough about a particular episode to appreciate fully the points and astute observations made in the blog. Not everyone is that avid a fan of Doctor Who to the point that they can catch every reference/cross reference. The blog helps immensely in that regard to appreciate the richness of the Doctor Who scripts while the story is still fresh in my mind. Not so much so if they are published later.

Still I do understand your problems. I just hope a solution can be found to make the blogs for each episode available in a timely fashion. in any case, the work you all do is very much appreciated.

Posted by The Observer on 10/02 at 07:40 PM

I thought this was an amazingly good, well thought out ending or new beginning! Rory and Amy returned to 1938 and lived a full life as seen by the dates on the tombstone and were not locked in a room, as an aged Rory was seen, in the potential future, earlier in the episode.

With New York cleared of the Angels except the odd survivor as took Rory back, I read this as their having a full life, Rory with Amy from 1938 until 2012, thus the age of Rory and Amy on the headstones.

Of course, in Doctor Who time, future returns to see Amy and Rory in their new lives is possible and so, for me this was on one hand leaving me in tears, yet “seeing” the sense of parallel times and all happening together!

Watched the extras and I guess the on-set requiring of Amy, who had been given the wrong page to read off-camera, having to say the lines, the book “afterward” from memory and it thereby came straight from the heart and so real.

Bravo Ponds/Williams and all involved
J-M

PS Glad no episodes til Christmas as I need to “grieve” the emotional end of Amy/Rory and prepare for the future or the past…Well it is all one time, isn’t it? It’s Doctor Who time!!

Posted by Jan-Michael on 10/03 at 04:07 PM

Rose, Martha, Donna, Amy. Have I missed anyone?

The trouble is that we invest our time and attention in each one of these characters to the point that we feel we know them as friends. There is a sense of loss each time one of the companions is written out of the series. Each departure is an emotional “jerk” (ref. Grapes of Wrath) to the gut. Unfortunately with each loss of a companion the emotions become less intense. I wasn’t as much moved by losing Amy as I was by losing Rose for example. At some point if this keeps up it is going to be “who cares”?

Posted by The Observer on 10/04 at 07:19 PM

If you haven’t seen the epilogue that was written but never shot for this episode, the BBC released it this week and it’s available on Youtube (search “Doctor Who: P.S. - Series 7 2012 - BBC One”) and on the BBC Iplayer if you have access.

It’s in storyboard version and shows what happened to Brian after Amy and Rory disappeared. And it SO should have been filmed and included in the episode (although perhaps the producers held it back in case in the future they change their minds and bring Amy/Rory back somehow after all0.

Anyway - watch it - NOW! I cried more than I did at the end of the actual episode.

Posted by Julie on 10/14 at 12:13 PM

The Observer said:

“Unfortunately with each loss of a companion the emotions become less intense. I wasn’t as much moved by losing Amy as I was by losing Rose for example. At some point if this keeps up it is going to be “who cares”?”

The only constant in Doctor Who is change. Companions have to come and go, it’s the nature of the show. No one looked at Sarah Jane’s original goodbye and said “Yaaaawwwn! We’ve already seen Harry, Jo, Liz, Jamie, Zoe, Victoria, Ben, Polly, Dodo, Steven, Katarina, Vicky, Ian, Barbara, and Susan go, who cares?”

If you get to the point where you feel “Who cares?” when a companion leaves, then this isn’t the show for you.

Posted by Kari on 10/15 at 10:54 PM

@julie: Thank you for bringing this clip to our attention. I agree with those who have said that this should have been the final scene in the episode. This ending would have made me care more. Wonderfully touching and yes there were a few tears.

Posted by The Observer on 10/17 at 04:34 PM

It was a great episode! There were a few falts like when they turned away from the statue of liberty and it didn’t zap them back in time. And when they fell off the building and were upside down, then change the camera veiw and there the right way up! but appart from that it was a good episode!

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